1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of network data services. More particularly, the invention relates to an apparatus, system and method for providing voice portal services on a wireless network.
2. Description of the Related Art
xe2x80x9cPortalsxe2x80x9d are World Wide Web (xe2x80x9cWWWxe2x80x9d) sites which help users manage and navigate through vast amounts of information stored on the Internet. Some well known Internet portals include xe2x80x9cYahoo!(copyright),xe2x80x9d AltaVista (copyright), and Excite(copyright). Portals typically provide search features which allow users to search for particular types of content by entering keywords. In response to the keyword search request, the portal returns links to relevant Internet sites and/or relevant content stored directly on the portal. For example, if a user enters the keyword xe2x80x9csnowboarding,xe2x80x9d the portal may return a list of hyperlinks to Internet sites related to snowboarding as well as internal portal categories related to snowboarding (e.g., xe2x80x9cRecreation  greater than Sports  greater than Snowboardingxe2x80x9d).
In addition to the keyword search and content management capabilities described above, portals may also provide users with a variety of network applications such as, for example, email, electronic scheduling and contact management, chat groups, newsgroups, personal financing, and instant messaging, to name just a few.
xe2x80x9cInstant messagingxe2x80x9d refers generally to the ability to send and receive messages over a network in real time. Various types of instant messaging services may be provided by portals and internet service providers (e.g., America Online). Typically, an instant messaging program (also commonly referred to as xe2x80x9cbuddy listxe2x80x9d program) installed on a client computer or wireless device may be programmed to inform users when any individuals in their list of xe2x80x9cbuddiesxe2x80x9d (e.g., colleagues, workgroup members, friends, . . . etc) log onto the network so they can communicate (e.g., via instant messaging, chat groups, email, etc). The program also notifies them if a xe2x80x9cbuddyxe2x80x9d sends them an instant message.
A computer-implemented method comprising: transmitting positional data identifying a wireless device""s position responsive to a first user transmitting a message from the wireless device to one or more other users; and transmitting the positional data to the one or more other users.